Federal political committees materialize every week, although the ones that typically attract notice are those backed by high-profile politicos or special interest groups.

So, in the absence of national attention, why form a national-level political committee in the first place?

OpenSecrets Blog posed this question to three little-known organizations that this month filed paperwork with the Federal Election Commission in order to begin politicking. Their answers, just like their missions, varied significantly.

“I and others on my team are not pleased with recent political decisions that have led to concurrent increases in federal debt and youth unemployment,” said Garrett Sweitzer, treasurer of Students for Mitt Romney, a new independent expenditure-only committee based in Nashville dedicated to backing the former Massachusetts governor in his presumed 2012 bid for the presidency. “Our committee hopes to expose these twin evils to America’s youth on college campuses.”

The committee’s activities, said Sweitzer, a Vanderbilt University student, could include promoting Romney at college athletic events and within campus political discussions.

(See Students for Mitt Romney’s FEC filing here: studentsformittromney.pdf. The organization is technically listed as “Student for Mitt Romney” in the FEC report, which Sweitzer says is a typo, and there are multiple students involved.)

By filing as an independent expenditure-only committee — also known as a “super PAC” — Students for Mitt Romney may raise and spend unlimited amounts of money and potentially fill its coffer with donations directly from corporations. Such a committee didn’t even exist before mid-2010, when the Supreme Court’s decision in SpeechNow.org v. Federal Election Commissionsanctioned their existence and operation.

Sweitzer explained that he chose to form an independent expenditure-only committee because “our members will be able to express their support for Gov. Romney through digital and print media without suffering from unduly monetary restrictions on freedom of speech.”

Out in Orlando, Fla., a group called CARMEN’s List also this month formed an independent expenditure-only committee.

To accomplish that, Lopez says her organization intends to “mobilize hundreds of thousands of minority voters in the Interstate 4 corridor in Florida to elect President Barack Obama.”

In its FEC filing, CARMEN’s list succinctly explains how exactly it’ll do that.

“This committee intends to make independent expenditures, and consistent with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit decision in SpeechNow v. FEC, it therefore intends to raise funds in unlimited amounts,” Lopez writes in a letter dated Feb. 25. “This committee will not use those funds to make contributions, whether direct, in-kind, or via coordinated communications, to federal candidates or committees.”

Then there’s Sam Chick, a man from Dover, Del., who, like a scientist aiming to resurrect some species of animal long extinct, is attempting to create anew a long forgotten American political party — the Whigs.

Yes, the Whigs, who after two decades worth of mid-19th century political prominence — four U.S. presidents were Whigs — all but vanished by the time Abraham Lincoln took office.

Chick’s state party committee is called the Delaware Modern Whig Party, a subordinate committee of the national Modern Whig Party.

“Filing with the FEC puts us one step closer to political legitimacy, not to mention legal compliance,” Chick said. “The ultimate goal is to promote the election of candidates within the state of Delaware who are adherents to the Modern Whig philosophy.”

And that philosophy, he says, espouses fiscal responsibility, energy independence, rights of states, equality for all citizens, educational and scientific investment and support of U.S. veterans.

Chick doesn’t know how much money his party committee will raise, acknowledging that only a “handful” of an estimated 35,000 Modern Whigs nationwide reside in Delaware.

“We hope to raise as much money as possible,” he said. “No matter what amount we raise, it is our intention to make the most efficient, prudent use of donation money, which our donors should rightfully expect.”

Except for the Revolving Door section, content on this site is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License by OpenSecrets.org. To request permission for commercial use, please contact us.